Medical waste management in Iraq: a case study of Baghdad
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ARTICLE
Medical waste management in Iraq: a case study of Baghdad Montazer K. Mensoor1 Received: 21 July 2020 / Revised: 3 September 2020 / Accepted: 9 September 2020 © Zhejiang University Press 2020
Abstract There is a lack of information about medical waste management in Iraq. This study aims to monitor and evaluate the current situation of medical waste management in Baghdad as it represents the capital and the biggest populated city in Iraq. About 32% of hospitals are located in Baghdad. Ten state-owned hospitals in Baghdad with the biggest bed capacity were investigated. The study used structured interviews with staff in charge of waste management in the sampled hospitals to collect data. The results showed that the generation rate of medical waste in the ten hospitals was 0.5 kg/(bed·day). The study also found that there were insufficient, ineffective, and improper isolation, collection, storing, processing, and safe disposal of medical wastes in the sampled public hospitals of Baghdad. The study recommended that the Iraqi Ministry of Health takes extensive and quick effective measures to better monitor and evaluate medical waste management and provide ongoing training to personnel responsible for waste management in the hospitals. Keywords Medical waste · Waste management · Hospitals · Baghdad · Iraq
Introduction With the increase in population, solid wastes increase in return. In the end, wastes pollution becomes a very serious environmental and public health issue. Medical waste includes all the wastes generated by health-care activities and produced by a medical institution (public or private), a medical research facility, or a laboratory [1]. But not all the waste produced by medical facilities can be considered as medical waste. About 75%–90% of the waste produced by medical facilities are general waste or municipal waste. This waste is usually managed by municipal waste services. The rest of the healthcare waste (10%–25%) is medical waste and can be very hazardous and dangerous to health [2]. Medical wastes are classified into four categories: Infectious wastes which include bandages, gloves, cultures, swabs, blood and body fluids, hazardous wastes which include sharps, instruments, and chemicals; radioactive wastes which come from cancer therapies; and finally, pharmaceutical wastes [3].
* Montazer K. Mensoor [email protected] 1
International Center for Training, Research and Development (ICTRD), Baghdad, Iraq
Medical waste management represents an evolving concern expanded by an absence of training, awareness, and financial resources to support solutions. The process of collecting and removing this waste is very important as it has a direct influence on the public and environmental health [4]. Unfortunately, medical waste management in developing countries faces various challenges such as illegal recycling, lack of staff training, and poor segregation of waste [5]. The World Health Organization (WHO) revealed in a study conducted in 22 countries that 18%–64% of healthcare institution
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